In September 2020, Giant launched the Crit Crushers Series on Zwift. The series was scheduled for Asia-Pacific riders and proved such a hit that the newly-announced 2021 Giant Crit Crushers Series has expanded to cater to North America and Europe time zones and offer categories to suit all rider levels.
Event Format
This series lasts 4 weeks and totals 8 races, with short back-to-back events each week lasting between 10 and 15 minutes. But due to fact that events are back-to-back, you need to pace it accordingly.
The top 20 riders for each event earn points, but you need to have a ZwiftPower account. Series winners will be the riders with the most points. There are separate race events for men/mixed and women.
See events details/sign up at zwift.com/events/series/giant-crit-crushers-series
More About the Series
For those not familiar with Giant, they are a Taiwanese bicycle brand recognized as the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer.
I caught up with Giant Ambassador, Lee “Hollywood” Turner to get more details about the event. But before that, I want to tell you about Lee. Lee has been a Giant Ambassador for the last 10 years and is a huge cyclist. He rides for fun, fitness and for the social interaction that it brings. He was the President of the largest cycling club in Melbourne called the St Kilda Cycling Club. What is interesting is that Lee has approximately 250 different cycling kits, with his favourites being the Aqua Sapone, Saunier Duval, and Mapai. Check out last year’s promotional video to see his extensive cycling kit collection:
After discussing his extensive wardrobe, Lee went on to explain that the first series of the Crit Crusher was excellent fun, with the beauty being that the events were not too long, around 10-15 minutes, so that if you are unable to hold the frantic pace of the front group, you could still cycle at your own pace and finish the event. As Lee described the event to me “It’s short, sharp and if you get dropped you can roll to the finish.”
Lee noted that the event was well-received, so Giant and Zwift were keen to offer it in multiple different timeslots catering to riders around the world. I recommend watching Lee’s promotion video for the event – see if you can spot fellow Australian Zwift Legend, Tim Searle!
Categories
Standard race categories apply based your watts/kilogram. New riders are recommended to start out in group D (1-2.4 w/kg). The fastest riders should register for group A (4+ w/kg). More information on choosing your race category can be found here.
Schedule
May 6, May 13, May 20, May 27th
See events details/sign up at zwift.com/events/series/giant-crit-crushers-series
Jersey Unlock
Complete one event and men will unlock the Giant jersey and women will unlock the Liv jersey.
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